


The Challenge

by LuvBusters



Category: The Real Ghostbusters
Genre: Contest, F/M, Peter Can Be Sweet In His Own Way, working together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22517884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuvBusters/pseuds/LuvBusters
Summary: Peter comes up with a contest to see who can come up with the best solution to Janine’s busy phone lines. The winner gets free lunch for a week and a kiss! May the best man win!
Relationships: Egon Spengler/Janine Melnitz
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	The Challenge

**Author's Note:**

  * For [morganskye](https://archiveofourown.org/users/morganskye/gifts).



> Thanks morganskye - This is for you.

It was a rainy April morning in New York. The phones had been ringing steadily since Janine had come in. A couple of the calls had been legit requests for the Ghostbusters’ services. However, most of them had been a series of prank calls, telemarketers and wrong numbers. Janine was getting highly frustrated. 

The guys were on their way back to the Firehouse from an early morning call. When Ecto-1 pulled into the garage, the look on Janine’s face warned them that she was NOT in the mood for any shenanigans. 

“I’m gonna take these traps to the containment unit,” Ray offered. He wanted to steer clear of Janine until she calmed down.

“Think I’ll give you a hand,” Winston agreed.

“Guess that leave us to get the gear,” Peter chirped. 

“Peter, please don’t aggravate Janine,” Egon pleaded. “She’s been on edge for the last week or so.”

“Ah, probably just PMS,” Peter said casually, waving his hand dismissively.

“For the last time, this is a BUSINESS!” Janine was screaming into the phone. “Yeah, well, when my employers decide to consider a timeshare, I’ll be sure to let you know!” She then slammed the phone down.

“Problem, Melnitz?” Peter asked with a grin.

She glared at him. “These damn phones have been ringing nonstop since I got here! Most of em are these stupid dumbass kids off on Spring break making prank calls! Keep it up and I’m gonna get their freakin addresses and set some of our ghosts out! I can’t get ANY paperwork done because of the damn phones!”

Egon and Peter just stood and listened as Janine ranted. Once she calmed down, Egon hesitantly approached her desk.

“Why don’t you take a few moments and step away? We’ll watch the phones for you,” Egon said with a warm smile.

Peter gave him a look as if to say, “like Hell!” But he wisely kept his mouth shut.

Janine smiled. “Thanks, Egon. I’ll just refresh my coffee and be right back.” She gently squeezed his arm as she walked by him, giving a suggestive wink.

Egon couldn’t do anything but blush and clear his throat. “Take your time,” he squeaked.

While Janine was upstairs, Peter made his way over to the lockers to change out of his slime covered jumpsuit. Egon did the same. In just a few minutes, Janine returned to her desk.

Egon had retreated to the lab while Ray and Winston were headed to the rec room. Peter passed by Janine on his way to the bathroom for a quick shower.

“Hold it Buster!” Janine yelled.

Peter sighed and stopped halfway up the stairs. “Whhaaaat?” He whined. 

Janine stood behind her desk with her hands on her hips scowling. 

“Everybody else manages to put their nasty jumpsuits downstairs; why can’t you?”

“Aah, I’ll get it later,” Peter casually replied.

“No because that means I’ll have to do it and I’ve got enough to deal with!” Janine retorted.

Peter knew he’d never win this argument so he sighed heavily again while picking up his jumpsuit. As he headed down to the basement, he heard the phones ringing again.

“Ghostbusters! Whaddya want?” Peter could hear Janine’s attitude all the way downstairs. 

A few minutes later, he returned upstairs only to hear that the phones had not stopped. Janine can hold her own well but she had reached her limit. Finally, the phones quieted down. Janine took a deep breath before resuming her typing. Peter sat down on the corner of her desk.

“May I help you, Dr. Venkman?” Janine asked annoyed.

“These phones have been driving you nuts for the past week or so, right?” Peter asked.

“Very perceptive. You wanna move your ass off my files?” Janine replied, clearly more annoyed.

Peter stood up, turning to go upstairs. Suddenly, he stopped. 

“What if we could come up with a better system for you? Something that’ll help take some of the pressure off?” Peter suggested.

“HA! Yeah, right!” Janine laughed skeptical.

“I’m serious,” Peter insisted. “Spengs and Ray Can build practically anything; Winston is a smart guy. And I have resources. Out of the four of us, somebody can come up with something!”

Janine sat back, crossing her arms. “Hmmm, I tell ya what. Whoever comes up with something that works well for my needs, I’ll buy him lunch every day for a week. And what the hell; maybe I’ll give him a kiss!”

Peter clapped his hands together. “Alright then! We’ll get started!” He gave Janine a quick wink before he dashed upstairs.

Peter quickly made his way to the lab. Janine had calmed down and returned to her paperwork. He stopped by the lab. Egon and Ray were working on their latest project. Winston was admiring the latest upgrade to the ghost traps.

“Whatever you two are working on, put it on hold,” Peter announced. Egon looked at Peter with an annoyed glare. 

“Peter, Ray and I really need to finish this,” Egon said.

“Trust me, this is better!” Peter bragged.

“What’s up, Pete?” Winston asked.

“Janine is having a hard time getting her paperwork done with all these crazy phone calls,” Peter explained. “I made her an offer; it’s really more of a challenge. Whoever comes up with a better system that works for her, she’ll buy him lunch every day for a week!”

The three men exchanged looks. 

“I’m sure the three of you can come up with something,” Egon replied, turning back to his project. 

“Annnnd,” Peter drawled, “shell also give him a kiss!”

At that, Egon’s head shot back up. “E-e-excuse me?”

Peter grinned. “You heard me. Janine will buy the winner lunch for a week and give him a big ol smooch!”

Egon slowly reached for a fresh notebook. “Ray, we can push this aside for the moment. We...ahh...should concentrate on this task for Janine.”

The others grinned. 

“Yeah, we don’t want her to quit because she’s overworked,” Winston said slyly. 

“Right! Yeah! We can pick this back up later, Egon!” Ray said excitedly. 

Peter, Winston and Ray left the lab, each headed to their respective areas to start work on the challenge.

“Heh, hope they realize Egon’s gonna win,” Peter thought to himself with a grin. “But free lunches for a week would be good.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Winston sat down at the kitchen table, his mind running on high speed. He wasn’t all that interested in a free lunch or a kiss, but he had a great deal of respect for Janine. He wanted to be able to come up with something that would help relieve some stress. 

Ray had retreated to the bunk room and sat crossed legged on his bed. He had grabbed a notepad and pencil and was already hard at work on his design. He thought of Janine as a sister so he wasn’t trying to win for the kiss. He was hoping to come up with the best idea to win her approval. Ray wasn’t close with his biological siblings; his friendship with Janine helped fill that void. 

Peter had returned to his desk downstairs. He honestly had no idea where to start. He figured anything he could come up with would pale in comparison to whatever it is that Egon comes up with anyway. All he really wanted was a way to genuinely help Janine. He wasn’t interested in her ‘that way.’ Besides, it would be a great way to finally get her and Egon together. But, instead of designing some kind of new gadget, he pulled out the company checkbook. He looked at the balance and did some calculating. He smiled slyly as he realized he may have the answer. 

**********************  
By the end of the day, Ray had finished his design. He raced downstairs to get it to Janine. She looked it over, smiling. 

“Ok. I think I get it, but can you explain it to me to be sure?” Janine asked. 

“Sure! This is just a rough design of course. But the way it works is kind of like an answering machine. When you have other things you need to do, just hit this button. All the calls will be directed to the device and recorded!”

“That’s really awesome, Ray!” Janine said excitedly. “But what happens when the tape fills up?”

“It’s not a tape, it’ll use a computer disk! You can put it in the hard drive and play them back!”

“Hmmmm. The only downside I see with this is that what happens if any of the calls are important or an emergency? It might be a while before I could get back to check the messages.”

“Oh yeah, I hadn’t thought about that,” Ray said sulkily.

“Hold on there! I’ve got my idea ready!” Winston announced. He handed his handwritten notes to Janine to review. 

She read over them and nodded. “This sounds awesome, too!”

“I think it’ll work better than Ray’s idea!”

Ray peeked over Winston’s shoulder. “Whatcha got?”

Winston explained. “It’s sort of like a flow chart. You can use either a notepad or maybe even a small whiteboard if you prefer. The point is you can make a list of the calls as they come in. The emergencies and more important calls go at the top of the list. The rest can be charted for us to get to later.”

“So it’s an organizational chart for the calls?” Janine asked. 

“Right! That way, you won’t have to worry about the less important ones as you work. The information will be charted and as we get back from each call, you won’t have to stop what you’re doing to tell us. We’ll just check the notepad or the board to get our next call!”

Janine rubbed at her chin, looking at the notes. “That does sound really good, Winston! And it’s really thought out.”

“But?” he asked.

She had an apologetic look on her face. “But I’d still have to stop and answer the phone each time. It kinda defeats the purpose, and creates more work. But it’s still a great idea!”

“Well, you might as well get out your credit card and pucker up, Janine! I’ve got the winning idea right here!” Peter said triumphantly. 

They all rolled their eyes. 

“Whaddya got, Dr. V?”

“I’ve crunched the numbers, and I’m happy to say that we can afford to hire a part time temp to help out during the busy months!”

Janine’s eyes widened. “Wow! That IS a great idea!”

“So, starting tomorrow, I’d like a cheesesteak with extra cheese…..,”

“Settle down, Peter. I’ve yet to give Janine my idea,” Egon said calmly as he came downstairs. 

The others stepped back from Janine’s desk as Egon walked up and set down a piece of equipment. 

“What’s that?!” Ray asked. 

“Looks like the guts of a phone but bigger!” Peter said. 

“And no phone!” Winston added. 

“This is merely a shell of my idea,” Egon said. “Obviously, it isn’t completed. There are still a few parts that need to be added.”

“How would it work?” Janine asked. She was desperately hoping Egon’s idea would work the best; she did not want to owe Peter lunch every day for a week, and certainly not a kiss!

“Basically, this is a multi-line telephone. Right now, your phone has only four lines. This one will have ten lines.”

“How’s that better, Spengs? You’re giving her more lines to answer!” Peter pointed out. 

“Each line will have a light on the side indicating that it is in use and will flash while on hold. Janine will be able to route the calls throughout the firehouse instead of taking them all by herself.” Egon folded his arms across his chest and smiled, quite pleased with himself. 

Janine stood up from her desk chair, silently deliberating each idea. Each man had presented very good ideas; she was going to have a very difficult time choosing. Of course, she wanted the winner to be Egon, but she was trying damn hard to stay objective and unbiased. She took a deep breath and made her decision.

“First of all, I really like all of these ideas. I truly appreciate the time and thought you’ve all put into this. But, I’m gonna have to go with Dr. V’s idea as the winner.”

“WOO HOO!” Peter yelled as he performed a little celebratory dance. “As I was saying earlier, starting tomorrow I’d like a cheesesteak with extra cheese…,”

The others smiled, each a bit sad that their idea didn’t win, but overall pleased that Janine was happy. 

“I mean, these ideas are really good, but I’m afraid they would all just be more work for me in the long run,” Janine admitted. She didn’t want the guys to feel defeated. 

Peter walked over to Janine, putting an arm around her shoulders, and leaning in close. “And I’ll take that kiss any time.” 

Janine frowned, shoving his arm off her shoulders. She stepped away slightly. “I said I might - I never actually said I would.”

“Either way, you do owe me lunch every day for a week!” He smiled smugly.

“Fine. But I want the temp here first before I start buying your lunch!” Janine demanded as she narrowed her eyes at him.

Winston laughed. “She’s gotcha there, Pete!”

“My mom did NOT raise a stupid daughter! I wanna make sure you come through for me BEFORE I come through for YOU!”

“Fair enough. I’ll call the temp service first thing in the morning!” Peter said. 

“As a matter of interest, who’s the runner up?” Ray asked.

Janine smiled. “Well, I’d have to go with ….,” she glanced over to Egon …”

“I KNEW IT!” Peter shouted. 

“I have to say, I’m surprised Egon wasn’t the winner!” Winston said. 

Egon smiled but blushed.

“Well, I’ll tell you what,” Peter said. “I’ll accept the fact that my idea won, but I’ll pass the prize over to Spengs! Let him be treated to lunch for a week!” Peter gave Janine a wink. 

Janine smiled. 

“Thank you, Peter,” Egon said, his face still blushing. 

*********************  
By the beginning of the next week, Peter had hired a temp to help with the phones. Janine had decided to add the others’ ideas, too. Egon and Ray were working on a prototype multi-line phone system that would combine both their ideas. The calls would be routed throughout the firehouse, but the information would also simultaneously be recorded to a disk for future reference. The temp was responsible for charting the calls on a whiteboard that had been set up on the wall of the garage. The guys would check their calls as they came back in, freeing Janine up to focus more on her work. 

Egon came downstairs ready for his first free lunch of the week. He had decided that they would go out for privacy. As they left the firehouse, Egon casually placed his hand on Janine’s lower back, escorting her out. 

After they had stepped outside, they stopped briefly. Janine looked up at Egon, wondering what was wrong. “Egon?”

He simply smiled. “I know you agreed to buy my lunches this week, but perhaps I could buy dinner for you sometime?” 

A sparkle shone in Janine’s eyes. “Oh I’d love that, Egon! Yes!”

She started to walk again but stopped when she realized Egon wasn’t moving. “Egon?”

He gently pulled her back to him by the hand, smiling. “I was also hoping ….,” he blushed but kept going. “I was hoping you would also be agreeable to the other part of the deal?”

Janine smiled. “You mean that kiss?”

He simply smiled back. 

Janine stepped closer and tiptoed. She cupped her hand on the side of his face and kissed him deeply on the lips. She noticed that Egon returned the kiss just as deeply. Afterwards, she stepped back. 

Egon smiled brightly, his face resembling that of a little boy’s at Christmas. “I’m certainly glad Peter decided to pass on the prize!”

Janine giggled. “I would’ve bought him lunch, but no way would I have kissed him!”

As the couple walked up the street holding hands, the others were watching from the second floor window. 

“Getting those two together was the real plan all along, wasn’t it?” Winston asked. 

Peter grinned. “Yeahhhh, I saw how eager Spengs was when I mentioned the kiss.”

“Real smooth, Peter! And she’s still implementing our ideas, too!” Ray said excitedly. 

“Well, if you gentlemen will excuse me, there’s a cute blonde downstairs that I’m dying to get to know better,” Peter said as he checked his hair in the mirror. 

“Take it easy, Pete! She’s just here temporarily to help Janine,” Winston said.

“I know, but the next two months are some of our busiest months. I’ve got plenty of time!” 

Winston shook his head and laughed. “That man has a one track mind!”

Ray laughed, too. “Yeah, but at least we’ve made Janine happy.”

“Yep, happily ever after, man.”


End file.
